a. Field of the Invention:
The present invention generally relates to a dyeing and decolorization apparatus for use in a blood serum analyzer of elctrophoretic type, and more particularly to such apparatus for dyeing and decolorizing a specimen carrier of a belt-like paper carrying a plurality of different blood serums as specimens to be analyzed which have been treated by means of an electrophoretic apparatus in the analyzer.
B. Description of the prior art:
In an electrophoretic method for analyzing a blood serum i.e. for measuring quantities of different types of proteins in the blood serum, the blood serum as a specimen is applied first to a specimen carrier which consists of, for example, a cellulose acetate paper of belt-like form and the blood serum is fractionated into different components of proteins by means of electrophoresis by applying high direct voltage to the blood serum within a electrophoretic apparatus. Then the fractionated components of proteins are quantatively measured by a densitometer or filter photoelectric colorimeter. In this case in order to obtain the colored specimen clearly distinguishable on the specimen carrier of substantially clear for accurate densitometric measurements, the blood serum is colorized together with the specimen carrier by a colorization liquid agent and the colored specimen carrier is then thoroughly decolorized or clearized except for the portion of a decolorization liquid agent.
In the prior art, all of the process steps including dyeing and decolorization steps in the electrophoretic method for analyzing a blood serum are manually done by an expert and this is very inefficient in all its aspects. From the reason described above, so much efforts have been directed recently to realize an automated blood serum analyzer of electrophoretic type, in which all of the necessary process steps in the electrophoretic method are automatically performed. When automating the blood serum analyzer, the dyeing and decolorization steps among other process steps may be realized by using a suitable transport mechanism capable of transporting the specimen carrier which has been treated in the electrophoretic apparatus into the dyeing liquid agent contained in a dyeing trough, into the decolorization liquid agent in a decolorization trough and to the place where successive process step should be performed. Therefore, it is necessary in this case to dispose the carrier transport mechanism into the liquid agents in order to transport the specimen carrier under the liquid agents. However, smooth transportation of the specimen carrier under the liquid agent is almost impossible due to the fact that the specimen carrier used for the purpose of blood serum analysis is yielding in the liquid agent under the influence of the excess liquid resistance when the specimen carrier is transported under the liquid agents.